Monarchy of the United Kingdom

The monarchy of the United Kingdom (or British monarchy) is a constitutional monarchy with the position of monarch, or head of state, being inherited based on predetermined lines of succession. Throughout history, the British monarch has been a primary figure in Britain’s government, effectively making laws (legislative power), enforcing laws and state boundaries (executive power and military power), and passing judgement in cases where the law comes into question (judicial power). Currently, the monarchs of the United Kingdom have ceded most of these powers to other entities, including the Prime Minister, Parliament, and various judicial structures, via Britain’s constitution. British monarchs are still the formal heads of state, but their duties are mostly ceremonial and representational. They also head Britain’s armed forces. Some believe that the monarchy is outdated and unnecessary, while others still value it as an important part of what makes Britain unique. The future of the monarchy, including if and how it will continue, is unknown.

Overview

The Celts

The Celts arrived in Britain about 1000 BCE, coming from what is now known as Germany. They were warriors who had a few well-known leaders. Some historians consider them to be the first monarchs in Britain. These include Caractacus, a leader who resisted the Romans in the first century CE, and Boudica, Queen of the Iceni, who rebelled against Roman rule about 60 CE .

In 43 CE, the Romans invaded Britain. Though the Celts offered fierce resistance, they were eventually absorbed into the Roman Empire. During the fourth century, Rome began to weaken, and they withdrew all troops from Britain in 409 CE.

The Anglo-Saxons

Other peoples were present in Britain before Rome withdrew, but they began arriving in greater numbers in 410, after the legions left. The Celts did not offer strong resistance against these others until about 500, but they could not turn them back.

These immigrants first formed small kingdoms based on tribal affiliation and battled each other constantly over several centuries. They formed themselves into seven main kingdoms near the end of the seventh century. The Jutes came from Denmark and settled in Kent; the Angles, who came from near the border of Denmark and Germany, settled in Mercia, East Anglia, and Northumbria; and the Saxons, who came from the northern part of Germany, settled in Essex, Wessex, and Sussex.

In 927, King Æthelstan, monarch of Wessex, united the remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to become the first ruler of the British. He is usually considered the first British monarch.

The Saxons ruled until 1066, except for a two-decade interruption by the Vikings, and their line included rulers such as Alfred the Great (871–899), Edward the Confessor (1042–1066), and the ineffective Ethelred the Unready (978–1016).

The Vikings

Sweyn Forkbeard was the King of Denmark and, in 1013, he defeated Ethelred to become king of England as well. The Vikings kept the throne for three generations. Canute, Sweyn’s son, was the most capable of these rulers. In 1042, Ethelred’s son, Edward the Confessor, retook the throne for the Anglo-Saxons.

The Normans

William I, or William the Conqueror, claimed that his second cousin, Edward the Confessor, had promised him the throne. He invaded England from Normandy, France, to take it, beating Harold II in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. The Normans held the throne until 1154.

The Plantagenets

Henry II was the first king from the House of Plantagenet. He became king after an agreement was reached with the Normans. His mother, Matilda, had been in line to inherit the throne. However, since she was a woman, the throne was passed to a male relative, Stephen. Matilda challenged him for the throne and, to avoid ongoing civil war, The Treaty of Westminster ceded the throne to Matilda’s oldest son upon Stephen’s death.

The Plantagenet dynasty includes many familiar names, including Richard the Lionheart (1189–1199) and Edward Longshanks (1272–1307). The latter defeated the Welsh tribes to become King of England and Wales. He was also victorious throughout much, though not all, of Scotland.

The House of Lancaster

Henry IV, also known as Henry of Lancaster, had been exiled to France but returned in 1399 to depose Richard II, the last of the Plantagenets. The Lancasters held the throne until Henry VI was deposed in 1461. He suffered from a hereditary mental illness, passed along through his mother’s line. Because of an attack of this illness, Richard Duke of York was made the throne’s protector in 1454. The House of York used this as leverage to challenge for the throne, which they took in the beginning of the War of the Roses.

The House of York

The War of the Roses continued throughout the reign of the House of York. Edward IV, son of Richard Duke of York, was the first of the Yorkist kings. They maintained power until 1485, when Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field.

The Tudors

If legends can be believed, Richard III’s crown was placed on Henry Tudor’s (Henry VII’s) head after the former was killed in battle. Henry was a Lancaster, but he married Elizabeth of York. This brought The War of the Roses to an end by uniting the two houses that had been fighting. The Tudors ruled from 1485 to 1603.

This dynasty included some of the most well-known of the British monarchs. Henry VIII (1509–1547) was known for having six wives and beheading two of them. He also left the Catholic church and started the Church of England, with himself as head. His son, Edward VI (1547–1553), worked with Thomas Cranmer to attempt to abolish Catholicism in the kingdom.

Mary I (Bloody Mary, 1553–1558), daughter of Henry VIII and half-sister to Edward I, became Queen after Edward’s death. She is known for trying to bring Catholicism back to England. Many Church of England bishops, including Thomas Cranmer, were burned at the stake and the country was plunged into a bloody religious war.

Another half-sister, Elizabeth I, took the crown in 1558 and held it until 1603. She never married and was known for her wisdom and intelligence. Her armies defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588.

The Stuarts

Because Elizabeth I did not have children, the son of Mary Queen of Scots, the Scottish monarch at the time of Elizabeth’s death, inherited the throne. He was the first monarch to be king of both England and Scotland and was known as James I of England, and also as James IV of Scotland (1603–1625). His son, Charles I (1625–1649), succeeded him but could not keep the throne. The Stuarts were Catholic, and Protestant forces, led by Oliver Cromwell, started the English Civil War in 1642. Charles’s forces were defeated in 1642, and Charles was tried for treason and beheaded in 1649.

The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth is a monarch-less interlude in British history. From 1649-1659, there was not a monarch as the head of state. The leaders tried to set up a constitution with Charles I, but this failed. Instead, they relied on Parliament alone for several years. Then, from 1653 to 1658, Oliver Cromwell was named Lord Protector. This was a bloody period, as Cromwell crushed rebellions in Ireland and Scotland. Not only were these areas more loyal to the Stuarts, but they were also staunchly Catholic. Oliver Cromwell’s son, Richard, inherited his position as Lord Protector but did not have the military prowess to keep it. Instead, he resigned in 1659 and went into voluntary exile in France.

The Restoration

Charles II, the eldest surviving son of Charles I, was asked by Parliament to take the crown after Richard Cromwell left for France in 1659. He was called the Merry Monarch and was known for the number of mistresses he kept. St. Paul’s Cathedral was built while he was king, and both the plague and the Great Fire of London occurred during his rule.

Charles’s son, James, took the throne after him and held it from 1685 to 1688. He was Catholic but raised his daughters as Protestants. After several religious clashes, Parliament asked William of Orange, a Dutch prince, to take their throne. William was husband to James’s Protestant daughter, Mary, and the two ruled together until Mary died in 1694. William continued as king until his death in 1702. Anne, Charles’s second daughter, ruled after William and Mary (1702–1714). Under her leadership, England and Scotland became one country for the first time. However, Anne did not have any surviving children. After her death, the throne passed to the nearest Protestant Stuart relative.

The Hanoverians

George I was from Hanover, which is now part of Germany. He did not have a deep love of Britain and, in fact, never bothered to learn the language. He was away from England more than he was present. Followers of the Stuart line tried to defeat him during the first Jacobite rebellion, but they were unsuccessful. He relied heavily on Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, to run the country during his reign from 1714 to 1727.

His son, George II, reigned from 1727-1760 and was more English than his father but still used Walpole’s service. The Second Jacobite Rebellion attempted to unseat him and put Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) on the throne, but they were again defeated, this time at the Battle of Culloden in Scotland.

The Hanoverian line lasted through Queen Victoria’s reign, from 1837 to 1901. Victoria valued respectability and spent much of her time out of the public eye, instead relying heavily on her husband, Albert of Saxe-Coburg. They are known for founding the Victoria and Albert Museum and for doubling the size of Britain’s empire around the world. Their reign saw Britain become a world power.

The House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha / The House of Windsor

Edward III, eldest son of Victoria and Albert, adopted his father’s name for his line when he became king in 1901. However, his son, George V, ruled from 1910 to 1936, during the height of anti-German sentiment during World War I (1914–1918). He changed the name of the line to Windsor, which sounded much more British. Edward VIII followed him, but he was only king for a few months before he shocked the world when he abdicated to marry an American woman, Wallis Simpson. George VI led the country through World War II (1939–1945), despite his stutter and quiet ways. Elizabeth II became queen in 1952 and ruled until her death in 2022. At that time, her son, Charles III, ascended to the throne, and Charles’ son Prince William became the next in line to inherit the British monarchy. In 2024, Charles III announced that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer and was undergoing treatment.

Further Insights

The future of the monarchy of the United Kingdom is currently unknown. Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, 2022, and her son, Charles III, ascended the throne. This leaves Prince William as the heir apparent, alongside his wife, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. In 2022, 62 percent of Britons polled in favor of the monarchy. While this is positive for the continuation of the monarchy, it is unknown if this support was for Queen Elizabeth or for the family in general.

Several scandals have plagued the monarchy. In 2019, Prince Andrew, Charles’s younger brother, was forced to withdraw from his official duties after Virginia Robert Giuffre filed a civil suit against him accusing him of sexual assault. Guiffre claimed that American financier Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her and the prince was one of her abusers. He settled the suit out of court and, while the exact settlement is unknown, it is believed to be £12 million. Since the lawsuit was filed, he has only played token roles, such as escorting his mother (Queen Elizabeth) to church as part of her Jubilee celebration in 2022.

In January 2020, Prince Harry, who is Charles’s younger son, and his wife, Meghan Markle, chose to step back from their public duties in relation to the monarchy. They were forced to give up many of their titles, repay taxpayer money that they had used to furnish their home, and renounce any further state funding. They have since been openly critical of the royal family. Markle, who is an American citizen and a person of color, claims she faced open racism from an unnamed member of the royal family. They also point to behavior that left them increasingly isolated, to the point that Markle contemplated suicide. The couple participated in a two-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey and have told their story in a documentary for Netflix. On January 10, 2023, Harry released a memoir discussing their experience. The official royal response has varied, from promises to investigate the racial accusations and deal with them privately to simply staying silent. Harry returned to England for his grandfather's, Prince Phillip’s, funeral on September 19, 2022, but the couple did not participate in the Queen’s Jubilee, from February 2 to June 5, 2022.

Charles has faced scandals of his own. In 2021, his personal aide, Michael Fawcett, resigned after it came out that he arranged for British citizenship and honors for Mahfouz Marei Mubarak bin Mahfouz, a Saudi Arabian citizen who donated substantial amounts of money to the prince’s foundation. Charles’s involvement in the arrangement is unknown, though photographs of him being given bags of money from another Arab investor have surfaced.

The King is no stranger to controversy. Charles married Diana Spencer on July 29, 1981. Diana was glamorous and charming and captured the hearts of people around the world. However, her marriage was difficult, with Charles eventually admitting to a long-time affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. In August 1996, the couple officially divorced. She eventually found herself in a relationship with Dodi Fayed, a billionaire. On August 31, 1997, Diana and Dodi were killed in a high-speed car accident in Paris when they were hit by an inebriated driver. Between the infidelity in the marriage, Charles and Diana’s divorce, and the royal family’s understated reaction to her shocking death, the period was full of scandals for Charles.

It remains to be seen whether Charles can keep the monarchy of the United Kingdom intact long enough to pass it on to the next generation.

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